Who's Who: Mick Blore

Mick Blore is the Chief Creative Officer for McCann Worldgroup - South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, leading creativity across 37 agencies in the region.

How did you get into advertising?

I did an aptitude test after school that said I’d be good at it, so I decided to give it a go.

Can you give us a run down of the most recent campaign you worked on?

We’ve just finished a campaign for the TEARS Foundation, that deals with child abuse awareness and education. It’s a simple piece where a little child is drawing intently (as children do), but when we reveal what she has been working on, we see she has simply written #metoo using big colour wax crayons.

The insight is that the #metoo movement is the most important of our time, but little children (often the most abused), aren’t on Social Media, and they need a big voice too.

What do you think the best piece of creative work around at the moment is?

Well, not to blow our own horn, but Fearless Girl out of McCann New York is the most iconic piece to happen as far back as I can remember. I also love the “It’s a Tide ad” campaign – amazing idea on a big, real product that is funny and tactically brilliant

What do you think the next big advertising trend is going to be?

I believe that with everything moving towards massive projects and big cases for so long, that we’ll see a return to simplicity soon – a great print or radio ad, a clever billboard, something smart on a digital/social platform. These are more often than not the staple of real advertising out there in the world. Entertainment continues to get bigger and bigger as a form of communication too. People watching ads are not yet consumers; they are an audience. And audiences like to be entertained.

What is a piece of advertising work you wish you had thought of?

It’s an oldie, but Guinness' “Surfer” is still my favorite ad of all time.

What is your favourite digital tool/app at the moment?

Giphy Cam is fun to play around with. Allows users to make their own gifs; fun to use as replies on Social Media, or to turn pics into quick shareables.

In a film about your life, who would you like to be played by?

Looks nothing like me, but I like the quirkiness and cheek Chris Pine brings to his roles.

What is a word or phrase you overuse?

Resurgence … who knows why, I don’t.

Your latest social media update said?

Kids today won’t know, that Scotty doesn’t know.

Your dream collaboration is:

I would love to work on Marvel anything, particularly X-Men.

A piece of criticism you’ve received was:

“There comes a time to stop crafting and get the work out there.”

A great piece of advice you received recently?

“Life is made up of lots of little moments, and there are so many beautiful moments to appreciate and be thankful for. The big events are bonuses, but the key to happiness is to savor the little moments.”